Published in: The National
The child’s parents divorced four years ago and his father brought him to the UAE from Malaysia in December 2018
A mother has spoken of her joy after being reunited with her son with the help of Dubai Police.
Rose Hu, 38, from Malaysia, met her child, 9, at the headquarters of Dubai Police on Monday after two years apart.
She last saw him in December 2018, when his father brought him to Dubai.
Ms Hu’s ex-husband took the boy out of their home country, Malaysia, on the pretext of a holiday but stopped responding to her messages after he reached the UAE.
“There wasn’t a single night or day that I didn’t miss him or thought about him and cried, but it’s all over now,” Ms Hu told The National.
Earlier this year, she won a custody case and Dubai Personal Status Court ordered her ex-husband to hand the child to his mother. But the man disappeared after the court issued its verdict.
“Police had been searching for my son for nearly four months,” she said.
“My lawyers called me up to tell me that my son was found. I cannot describe the happiness.”
Ms Hu filed a custody case in 2019 but two Dubai courts dismissed her case for being out of jurisdiction.
But Dubai’s Court of Cassation overturned the ruling and ordered a retrial.
During court proceedings, it was revealed the father had breached an undertaking he signed in a Malaysian court in which he pledged to bring the boy back.
“A mother is the most deserving of the custody of her child,” presiding Judge Faraj Al Galawi said at Dubai Personal Status Court after awarding the woman custody of her son in April this year.
But flight restrictions due to the pandemic prevented Ms Hu travelling to the UAE.
During this time, the father moved house and could not be traced for four months.
Lawyer Awatif Khouri of Awatif Mohammad Shoqi Advocates & Legal Consultancy, who represented Ms Hu, requested the man’s arrest.
Dubai Police found him and the child in another emirate on Monday.
“I reached Dubai on July 8, as soon as airports opened up, and have been since renewing my visit visa because police were still looking for my son,” she said.
Ms Hu said her family was overwhelmed by the news.
“His grandmother loves him very much and has been asking about him all the time,” she said.
On Wednesday, her former husband will appeal against the decision to grant her custody of their son.
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